The True Nature of Strength
by aberaham tulip
Summary: One month before the Genin exam a mysterious Ninja appears to teach Naruto the true Nature of strength. His appearence will set off a chain reaction that will change Naruto life, and the village he lives in, forever.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So first of all I don't own Naruto or any of the characters or concepts from the show. There are lots of them in here, and I'm just playing with them, cause the show is fun. I don't make any money off this.

Second: Well, I realize I haven't updated The power of a horse in a long time. I truly have neither given up nor forgotten that story. In fact this story originally started as a piece of the next chapter of Power, but soon blossomed into something else. I am using a altered part of the first bit of this chapter in Power, so if it seems familiar that's cause it is.

As for why the slow updates, well college has started to pick up and I don't have nearly enough time for everything I want to do so my fiction tends to suffer. Hell right now I should be asleep so I can get up at six thirty and get work done. Anyhow, please read and review. As glad as I am that someone liked Power enough to review it three times, I would appreciate more people than just him reacting to this piece. It's very different than Power, which has a much fluffier atmosphere. Also I apparently have another piece in the works so look for that too, that one sticks closer to the story line of the show.

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A grinning face, attached to a rather lanky body, hung upside down. What drew Naruto's attention was not the red hair, or even the lean yet muscular build of the man. Rather, his gaze was immediately drawn to the man's teeth, specifically the twin sets of fangs in that mouth. The fangs were sharp, and unlike any teeth naruto had seen on man or beast they curved in such a way as to create two flat half moons per jaw.

The next thing to catch the boy's attention was a cold feeling that seemed to coat his entire body. It refused to fade, chilling the normally resilient boy. But hadn't he been hot only a moment ago. It wasn't like the sun had set... and he hadn't been in a forest had he? What had he been doing?

"Naruto-kun?"

The voice was soft, high pitched and quiet, almost sounding like a squeak. And it was warm, oh so warm. It carried the warmth of the midday sun, a sun he'd been walking in. It carried the warmth of hot pavement, pavement he'd been walking on.

Warmth... a voice shouldn't have warmth... not like this. He'd felt warm and fuzzy at the few compliments he'd been given, but it had never resembled this. It felt like that one time he'd snuck into the local hot springs and submerged himself, only more so. The warm feeling pervaded every corner of him, even going so far as to fill his mind. He could feel such an intense heat, a delightful heat when compared to the chilling wrongness of the forest.

He focused on the heat, clinging to it like a life preserver. As he focused on the heat and its source, that small voice... whose was it... who squeaked like that... the warmth traveled outward. As a face, cute with big eyes, popped into his head no longer did his clothes feel like ice. As a name began to form the forest no longer seemed so cold and bleak.

The voice belonged to... Hi... Hinata. The name brought more warmth, far more warmth. It set off a spark inside, a spark that ignited a full scale fire. It leapt from out of his body, attacking the nearby trees, burning them away, revealing a bustling street underneath. Naruto did not notice, he was too busy remembering.

The memories of that morning returned with a vengeance, streaming through his mind's eye like an animated collage. His mind quickly pieced the puzzle pieces that were his memories together and had a complete picture.

It was a month before the Genin test, and on this bright, warm, sunny day, he had been ambling down the Main street of Konohana plotting his greatest prank yet. A little before the exam he'd get the entire village... he'd vandalize the Hokage monument. That was definitely a prank worthy of Konohana's greatest prankster and future Hokage. And then he'd locked eyes with a person he'd never seen before... after that... well he'd somehow been in a forest... but before the forest and the cold there had been a brief surge of chakra. A Genjutsu! He couldn't believe it some baka had stuck him into a genjutsu, but why? Why didn't matter really, not now. He was gonna break out and then kick the ass of whatever bastard had dared put him in this stupid place believe it!

Full of determination Naruto returned his senses to the illusion around him, intent on finding its weakness, only to find that the cold feeling had vanished along with the trees and the upside down man. All he was left with was a familiar street below his feet, the familiar scent of Hinata-chan right behind him, a man wearing a cloak and a wide brimmed hat staring directly at him, and red hot anger inside his belly.

Without even a second thought he knew what he saw and felt was real and he knew the man in front of him was to blame. Forgetting Hinata behind him and focusing slowly on the covered man, Naruto bellowed.

"You! What's the big idea you baka! How dare you stick me in a genjutsu, don't you know who I am?"

"Uzamaki Naruto."

"I'm Uzamaki Naruto future Hokage and don't you forget it," the boy continued not even recognizing that the man had successfully identified him. Behind him Hinata blushed at his antics. He didn't notice though, far too focused on the man in front of him.

"I know, child. I know," the man said as he reached up and pushed back the hat adorning his head, so that it hung by its strap along his neck.

Now Naruto could clearly see his face and realized it had been the one from the jutsu.

"So why did you do it you baka! Why are you messing with me?"

"If you quit your yelling I'll tell you," the man replied in an even tone.

The man started juggling a few small rocks as he went on.

"Did you know that the average human being can tap into only one hundredth of their full chakra potential? The average ninja is better, generally being able to tap in to a full tenth of their chakra potential. Truly exceptional ninja might make be able to access a full thirty percent. Your Hokage can access fifty percent of his bodies full potential. Do you wonder why I tell you this? Do you wonder why I care? Tell me Naruto how much chakra do you have access to? How much chakra do you have? Do you even know?"

Faster than Naruto's eyes could track the three rocks the stranger had been juggling disappeared. Three bodies dropped from three separate rooftops seconds later, forming the points of a large triangle. Each body was male and was adorned by a cracked Anbu mask. Each web of cracks stemmed from a small crater in the middle of the skull were blood was already pooling. The cause of each of the small craters was a small rock that had only recently been in the stranger's hands.

Fear blossomed in Naruto's heart as he realized what had happened. It shouldn't be possible. No one could move that fast. No one could throw that hard. No one could kill a single Anbu with a small pebble, so killing three anbu that way... no it just couldn't be done. And how had that bastard even known the anbu were there? Naruto hadn't and he was damn good at detecting them, a by-product of all those years of pranking the town. The man spoke again, taking Naruto's focus away from what had just happened, allowing disbelief to ferment into anger.

"In case you were wondering Naruto I can use every single erg of latent power in this body. I am far more powerful than any Hokage this village has ever had. I could destroy you and this town on a whim-"

"Yeah? You just try it! We'll see you bastard!"

The stranger smirked showing off his rather odd fangs once again.

"I think you misunderstand Naruto. That is not why I am here. I am not interested in your little village. Take it, leave it, whatever. It is beneath me. It is beneath you."

The man started moving forward, arms stretched out from his sides, in what was meant to be a gesture of goodwill. The gesture made Naruto's imaginary hackles rise.

"What are you talking about, hey you stay where you are," Naruto responded to both the man's words and his gradual forward movement.

"Power Naruto. I speak of power. The Chakra potential in your body is incredible. And that's without your guest. Alone your young body already has a potential capacity that far exceeds every person in this excuse for a town. As is... no being in the world has the potential you do. I could help you harness it. I could teach you everything the foolish ninjas won't and things that they simply can't. I can teach you to call fire down from the heavens, to create glaciers. I could teach you to harness every last erg of energy in your body. All you would need to do is come with me."

Naruto didn't even try to think why he was being offered all of this, he didn't even think to be afraid, he didn't even think about what guest he was supposed to possess, he was too busy being angry. Who did this Baka think he was! He was Uzamaki Naruto future Hokage and greatest ninja ever! He didn't need some crazy baka making stupid speeches and killing anbu in front of him. And the baka probably didn't even kill the damn anbu. Probably just another illusion. Well he would show him. There was no fooling him, not twice with the same trick at least, and certainly not in the same hour.

Marshaling his courage was easy in this state of mind. Within seconds of the end of the mysterious stranger's statements Naruto was bellowing back.

"Yeah right! Like I could learn anything from a baka like you! You don't fool me with your stupid illusions. Believe it!"

The man chuckled.

"Ah the spirit of youth. I'd forgotten how it could turn a rather promising young man into a raging idiot. Well little one, should I demonstrate my power for you? I've already killed three of the anbu watching us. Would you like me to finish off the others? It shouldn't be too hard considering they're all trapped."

"Trapped? Anbu surrounding us? What are you talking about you bak-"

"Yes I'm a baka I get it. Why don't I make it a little easier on you?" The man drawled slowly.

The man didn't move, he didn't blink, and he certainly didn't make a single hand single. Still, before Naruto's eyes several members of Konohana's elite ninja group, anbu rose into the air, seemingly from nowhere. They floated slowly over towards the clear space where Naruto, the man, and Hinata stood. Without a gesture the villagers that had been travailing along the popular path found an invisible force restrain them, cover their mouths and lift them up to join the Anbu.

Squeaking Hinata hid herself as best she could behind the back of her hero.

"Now Naruto it's your turn."

"Oh yeah?" the boy screamed before launching himself forward. He lashed out as best he could, with the strongest taijutsu he knew: a leaping punch towards his opponent's face. He was effortlessly dealt with. The man caught Naruto's arm, stepped to the side, and then used the boy's momentum against him, flipping him onto his back with surprising ease. Pain and a desperate desire for air filled Naruto's mind as he collided with the hard pavement. He would have sworn he heard something break, most likely his skull, if it wasn't so difficult to think.

As he lay there Naruto would have sworn he felt something warm and sticky find its way onto his scalp. He wasn't a fan of the sensation and pushed himself up despite the dizziness and with a roar leapt to his feet and attacked again.

The exact same result did not happen. This time every punch Naruto threw was brushed aside and ignored. The baka didn't even seem to be paying attention to Naruto's desperate attempts to land a punch.

Naruto grew even angrier when a soft chuckle met his attempts.

"You really should just join me. Were you actually trained you would be a great threat. As it stands though, you are nothing."

A palm met Naruto's chest, sending the boy flying back into a nearby shop's wall. His back and chest hurt equally creating a symmetry of agony inside of him. He struggled to remain upright despite the pain. He'd be damned if some stupid baka was gonna beat him.

"Take the defeat boy. You cannot win this battle. The village you wish to remain loyal to ensured that with its constant betrayal of you."

Naruto charged forward again. This time a kick too fast for him to react to knocked him back. Once again agony filled him as it felt like both his front and back had collided with a brick wall. Around Naruto the abused wall gave way, dropping planks on and around him, essentially burying him and bringing more pain.

Grimacing from the pain and feeling the warmth of his own blood trickle down his face Naruto forced the wooden debris off of himself, standing once again. Through the pain he managed to see a sight that sent a trill of fear through him. Hinata-chan! She was in between the baka and him now. There was no way to reach her before that teme killed her.

But that fatal attack never came. Instead the man moved his eyes from first the girl to the boy, and then from the boy to the girl. He repeated that movement one more time, as if to confirm what he saw. Then he took a step forward, followed by another step, and another, and another until he had just passed the small girl. Without looking back he spoke quietly, kindly.

"You should leave little one. Neither he nor I wish to see you harmed in the crossfire."

Without looking back at her, he could tell she was reluctant to leave, despite the fact that she had been obviously afraid of him. Interesting. As a reaction he spoke again.

"Naruto will be able to fight more effectively if he does not have to worry about protecting those he cares about as well. The best thing you can do is find a safe place to hide."

And still the girl did not move.

"N-n-no," the word left her lips at a bare whisper.

"Excuse me?" the man asked without turning to face her.

"N–no! I w-will nn-not abandon Naruto-chan!" she forced out, her face turning a bright crimson.

Naruto watched as the man looked at Hinata. Had the teme's patience run out? Was Hinata now a target? Naruto knew he couldn't let that happen, that he would need to do something anything to prevent the teme from attacking her.

Still, a part of Naruto was amazed. No one had ever shown such regard for him before. Noone else had ever cared. And as good as her caring made him feel he knew he could not let her remain, knew he could not risk her getting hurt. Ignoring the pain it caused him he bellowed out to her.

"Hinata-chan go! I'll handle this teme! Get to safety. I'll come and get you after I kick his ass. Believe it!"

And still the girl did not budge, she merely looked at him with such sad eyes, her head hanging low. Almost as if his words had hurt her. But how? All he wanted was for her to be safe, to be happy. Did he do something wrong? Was he going to lose her caring spirit? No he couldn't think like that now. He had to get her to safety, even if that meant she wouldn't care about him anymore. He wouldn't let her die for him.

And despite his internal conflict Hinata did not move.

"I could place you in the air like the others, if you prefer little girl."

Naruto watched, rage building inside him, as, in response to the baka's words, Hinata gave a squeak and tried to shrink into her self. How dare that bastard threaten her? How dare he! Snarling Naruto leapt at him, screaming out,

"You bastard!" The first blow didn't land, but neither did his opponent's rushed counterattack. Dodging under a palm strike Naruto cried out to Hinata.

"Don't let this teme get you Hinata, not like he did the Anbu, go, get help! Tell the old man."

Distracted with yelling out to her Naruto never noticed his opponent's elbow until it met his spine. The boy fell to the ground with a grunt. Through tearing eyes he could see Hinata gather her resolve, prepare and then leap off, in the direction of the hokage tower.

The man standing over him saw this too, and in spoke addressing what happened.

"See Naruto I am not your enemy. I only wish to offer you a chance at true power. Why fight me?"

The man was prepared for Naruto's counter attack. He effortlessly blocked Naruto's awkwardly swinging leg and drove another punch home into the boy's chest. He relaxed his guard slightly as he prepared for Naruto to jump up, which was just what the boy did. Right into a trap. Using Naruto's forward momentum against the boy the man threw him across the street.

With a painful thud Naruto landed in a familiar spot. It was were he had crashed through a wall moments before.As Naruto sat up he could feel a weariness grip him. His head spun slightly and his vision unfocused making it so difficult to see. He found himself wondering where the extra enemies came from, without stopping to ponder if a jutsu was at a work. Ignoring this Nerita attempted to stand only feel the world spin around him as he did so. Still, he persevered, managing to leave his seated position.

His legs visibly trembled as he stood again. His effort was met with a brutal attack. A sharp blow hit his solar plexis and an elbow slammed into the small of his back. Pain filled his vision and a burning silence filled his ears, a silence that was shattered by first the pounding of his own heart and then a voice he'd come to hate.

"You're being far too stubborn for you own good child. And despite your lack of training I had expected better from you."

Silence descended once again as the man finished chastising Naruto, as Naruto could not muster the breath necessary to respond. His body ached too much from the beating he'd taken. But he couldn't stop now... he had to keep going. He had to push himself up. And that he did, arms shaking with the effort. All his muscles were tense as he expected another blow to come, but come it did not. All that met his ascent was a voice crying out into the now emptied courtyard.

"If the power of youth is not enough I shall show you the power of a true Taijutsu master!"

Naruto's bleary eyes focused on sight that had to be an hallucination. Standing in front of him was a man in a green jumpsuit with orange leg warmers. The first thought through Naruto's head was: how hard did that baka hit him? That thought reoccurred when the spandexed man spun around giving Nerita a large grin and a thumbs up, allowing Nerita to see his eyebrows. They were so big and thick... they looked like a pair of caterpillars.

What followed next was hard for Naruto, with his blurry vision, to follow. He thought he saw the green clad shinobi strike first, rushing forward with near impossible speed, only to have the strange nin deflect the blow easily. Then the enemy nin counter attacked, lashing out with a right, which the green clad shinobi easily avoided.

This pattern of attack and counter attack continued for too long. All too quickly Naruto's eyes lost their focus entirely and the battle became little more than a blur. If he had been able to fully view the battle, it would have looked something like this:

Grinning at his opponent, Gai leapt back a ways, clearing some distance between them.

"You are quite good stranger. But behold the true power of the Green Beast of Konohana," Gai declared as he reached down to his orange leg warmers. With a well practiced gesture he flicked a switch and heavy weights fell off. There was a sizable indent in the area around Gai's feet now. Gai then crossed his arms over his chest and then repeated the flicking motion. Two more sets of weights disengaged from him, this time from his arms, and the crater grew larger and deeper yet.

Smiling still, Gai leapt at the other shinobi, his massive speed rendering him invisible to the eye.

The other man barely blinked or reacted. If anyone had been capable of witnessing the lightening fast exchange, they would have seen the other shinobi capture Gai's fist effortlessly in the palm of his hand. Then a spectator would witness the smile fade from Gai's face. Surprise would give way to pain and then fear as the mysterious man increased the pressure on the Green Beast of Konohana's arm until it became excruciating, even for the Tai-jutsu specialist.

Everyone, including the near unconscious Naruto, heard the sound though. Within moments of the lightening fast encounter there was the sickening sound of a bone snapping. The Green Beast did not scream, holding the pain inside, until his opponent started twisting the broken arm that is.

The crack and the scream brought Naruto back to his senses.

He managed to see his would be savior in trouble. He watched the friendly Jonin scream in pain and then sail across the street into a shop, only to have it's already weakened structure collapse on him. Naruto could only stare at the unmoving pile of debris and not the man who'd delivered the punishing kick.

"Well now that he's out of the way, I guess I should finish you off Naruto. It is a pity though. I expected you to join me, where you could reach your true potential. Oh well, perhaps I was wrong and you are just a weakling. A weakling with no chance of becoming a Hokage. Perhaps it is kinder to kill you." The man spoke, as if he hadn't just exerted himself at all. Cold fear seeped into Naruto's heart as the man walked closer. The only thing the young boy could think was that this was the end. He would die there and his dream, and his life, would end.

No! He couldn't let it end here. He couldn't let his dream die. He wouldn't let it die. He wouldn't let some stupid bastard rip it from him not now, not when the first goal was in sight. He had to win this, had to survive. It was only a month till he became a genin, only a month before he became that much closer to becoming the strongest ninja and the Hokage of the village. Just a month and he was so much closer to the respect and attention he deserved! It wasn't fair! It wasn't right! He wasn't going to lose! Not now, not ever.

Forcing limbs and the bones, joints, muscles, and nerves that comprised them, into position he stood. His mind was racing. So what did he have? The sexynojutsu, and he couldn't see it being that much use, not here. So what else did he have? There was that jutsu Iruka-sensei had been trying to teach him. Some stupid cloning jutsu that he simply couldn't get. Everyone else had pulled it off in a couple of tries, but no matter how much he tried and practiced he always ended up with a disaster. Some half-baked imitation that looked to be suffering from severe diarrhea. But he didn't have a choice did he? Maybe if he used the two in some combination he'd be able to get behind the guys defenses, after all the teme probably didn't expect a sneak attack.

But first he'd have to make the illusion jutsu work and he'd only get one chance, anything more would tip his hand. And in order to do that he'd have to wait for his opponent to attack. Seeing Naruto stand again the man smiled.

"Now haven't you learned your lesson yet? You can't beat me. But you're gonna try again aren't you? You just haven't learned your lesson yet. Maybe I was wrong about you. All the potential in the world won't save an idiot."

With a casual flick of his wrist the man sent a kunai towards Naruto. Seeing it coming the boy had but a single thought as he leapt to the side, and careened through a hole made in one of the adjacent shops, and started preparing the enhancement: Well here goes nothing...

He gathered the chakra too him. He had to make sure he had enough this time... his dream depended on it. He poured his heart and soul into the effort gathering as much power as he could from his young frame, determined not to fail this time. He leapt again, this time out of the way of a kunai that smashed through the store at an odd angle. He landed outside again, in full view of his opponent. He would have to do it now, project the illusion near the his opponent, hopefully distracting the baka long enough to land an attack. But he couldn't fail... so for his dream, for his life, for everything... he'd have to put his all into it.

More chakra flowed through him, the effort causing him to sweat. He could feel the heat building inside him. He focused more, forcing more chakra through his body into the jutsu. It was so hard. But he'd do it.

He could feel something happening, some subtle change occur. Opening his clenched eyes he saw two kunai fly toward him, and not the copy he'd been attempting to create. He wouldn't be able to dodge, they were going to finish him off. NO! He wouldn't have that. He was Uzamaki Naruto and he was not going to die here.

The final burst of anger triggered the chakra he'd been channeling. It bloomed out from him and he realized his one chance was slipping away, even as he forgot the kunai coming towards him. Quickly he sought to reign the chakra back, desperately willing it to not leave his body. To his surprise it complied and he could feel the chakra return. It felt like a wave of boiling water smashing over him. Never before had he felt such force, or such heat, not even when he'd escaped the Genjutsu. He could feel it coursing through his veins and he knew that know was the time to attack.

He rushed forward striking as best he could. His blows were as sloppy as before, he knew that, but that didn't matter, not to him or reality. This time each of his blows landed, even as anger colored his vision a deep red. A smirk worked its way onto his face as he felt the baka fold up around his fist.

The smirk evolved into a full blown smile as he landed a powerful uppercut and that blossomed into a full blown grin as his next strike knocked the teme backwards through another store's wall. The man didn't get up and Naruto found himself too out of energy to even be thankful for that one small mercy.

As his adrenaline rush died away he realized a startling fact.

The kunai had never reached him. And there was a silver puddle by where he had been standing just moments ago. Just what jutsu had he used?


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters associated with the show and am not making nor am seeking to make any sort of profit off of this story which uses the intellectual property of others. This is a work of parody and should be viewed as such.

A/N: So yeah... I found a way to work on this story again. This is just a brief update to show that I am updating. Oddly enough this Chapter doesn't really contain much in the way of an Active Naruto, but it is necessary. It's pretty short, but I wanted to get it posted before I lost any sort of focus. Hopefully another update to follow in a few days. First I'd like to try and construct Arise Kimmagen chapter two, but yeah anything is possible. Oh and Please read and review. Comments do help me update, it's sad but true, I need reinforcement. Have a good day.

Chapter Two

The scene is downtown Konoha, or at least the village's equivalent of a downtown. Essentially this area is the closest the small village has ever come to a shopping district. It is a single street, a wide road running down the middle. Lining the length is every shop the villagers could need: a few grocery stores, a general store containing a few sweets, some imported goods, clothes and assorted nicknacks, three restaurants: one a ramen stand named Ichikarus, another a bbq place, and finally a restaurant that specialized in the cuisine of the lightening country founded by a refugee from the area over twenty years ago, a flower shop, and a single weapons dealer. Which at first glance would seem odd. One would perhaps expect there to be more than a single weapons dealer in a village filled with ninja. The opposite was quite true. Ninja lead dangerous lives shrouded in uncertainty. Many ninjas develop an almost fanatic devotion to luck or small tricks and even those that don't quickly find that buying all of their weapons and gear from a single manufacturer drastically cuts down on one of the many elements of chance they must contend with daily. However the monopoly is not without price, as there is no other business more scrutinized than the single weapons dealer.

If there was one man capable of withstanding, and eventually passing, such scrutiny it was Nekamoto Osou. There was no other soul in the village so dedicated to their craft, with perhaps the notable exceptions of the Third Hokage, the well loved leader of the village hidden in the leaf, and Ibiki, the village's interrelation and counter-intelligence expert, and even in those cases there was much debate.

The debate was not without merit. Osou had attended Konoha's ninja academy when he was a youth. His scores had been the highest seen in three years and it was widely speculated that he would go on to become one of Konoha's most successful shinobi. There was much surprise when he declared that he had no such interest. With barely an explanation Osou had left the ranks of the shinobi to go and study the art of metal work.

He had spent decades building his skill, putting off the starting of a family until far after the typical age in the village, a choice he had never regretted, in favor of pursuing his passion. It was rumored that he was versed in every weapon he could craft and that he had traveled the world learning the different methods of forging iron, blending them into his final ultimate style.

No one outside of Osou's immediate family had any clue as to the truth of these rumors. But even without that knowledge there was one thing no one could deny. Osou was the most dedicated weapon smith a village could hope for.

That dedication had not faded over time. Which is why this bright sunny morning Osou was completely oblivious to the battle that had taken place inches from his shop. He was unaware of the damage to the surrounding shops, or that his selection of kunai had been raided over the course of the proceedings, and that the stolen weapons were now little more than cooled metallic puddles. So absorbed had he been in his work that he missed Guy's loud claims and climatic defeat.

The bellows had called and molten iron had no sense of patience. He had been working on a variation of the standard kunai. Slightly longer, and as it turned out after extensive testing less aerodynamic, the new variation was an attempt to create a better melee weapon. The enhanced length of the blades would provide a decent strategic advantage without impairing the user's reflexes or maneuverability, as short swords and traditional longer knives would. At least he hoped so.

He'd worked unceasingly on the project since before the sun had peeked above the horizon, something his wife rarely begrudged him. He'd left at the same time as his daughter, who had been off to attend one of her team's ridiculously early and intense training sessions. Osou was proud of her. Dedication was important.

He'd arrived at his shop shortly thereafter and had worked for hours, without food nor drink until finally the heat and time combined to make him too tired and thirsty to continue. When he'd finished yet another variation he had decided to stop temporarily.

He'd wandered outside to find chaos.

The street had been devastated. Large chunks of the road itself were missing, and entire shop fronts had been smashed apart. His had only suffered some minor damage, not nearly enough to immediately attract his attention.

That honor, of being the first thing he noticed, went to the blond child that suddenly collapsed in front of him.

Hurrying forward, stepping over the corpses of several slain anbu, Osou grabbed for the child, trying to keep the head from colliding with the ground. He was only partially successful, and managed to cradle the boy's skull from the worst of the impact, possibly preventing a broken nose, as the boy had fallen forward unceremoniously.

Checking the boy's pulse he quickly glanced around, looking for other survivors. There were some muffled groans from around him, and other villagers forced themselves to their feet, many with debris or dirt, Osou was not paying much attention to them, falling off as they did so.

When his fumbling fingers had satisfactorily located the boy's pulse, weak but quite detectable, Osou decided to risk turning him over to check for broken bones.

The face that greeted his sucked the air from his lungs. It was that child.

The other villagers were stirring, and the boy was in need of medical attention. Osou was no doctor and a lifetime spent studying and creating weapons had lead to a very clear understanding of just how complex the human physiology was, and given who was in his arms there might even be more complications. Complications he was certainly not qualified to deal with. Which meant only one thing: He needed to get a doctor and quickly. And while he shouldn't risk moving the boy he couldn't exactly leave him there... the villagers would know doubt blame the child.

Which raised a question in Osou's mind: Would they be wrong to? Had perhaps the child done all this, had perhaps his soul been overwhelmed, or he lost his sense only collapsing after taking out several anbu and most of the storefronts? Osou had no way to know. But the villagers were regaining their senses and soon the choice would be taken out of his hands.

He did the only thing he could do.

He made a choice.

* * *

Konoha has one hospital. It is a small enough village, and many of its residents are capable of traveling large distances quickly, that a single hospital was more than enough. Especially since it was a large hospital with a great many doctors and some of the best equipment out there. The lives of ninja were dangerous at best, suicidal at worst, and Konoha was a village that held a great amount of concern for its people. The Third had funneled a lion's share of the village's resources into the hospital over his many years as leader, calling it an investment when pressed. 

One of the many things these funds payed for were small aid stations scattered throughout the village. Each station was capable of handling most minor injuries and staving off any negative consequences of major injuries until proper transport could be arranged.

There was one at each end of the shopping district, the Third, feeling that perhaps the area might be a prime target for the village's enemies, wanted aid ready incase it was needed. One of the stations, the closer of the two, had been demolished by the fight. The other one was at the far end of the shops' boundaries, marking the transition from commercial to residential.

It was to there that Osou brought the child.

Barku was not having a good day. It was his second straight weeks of double shifts, and this one had begun the day before and wasn't due to end for another few hours. Stupid vengeful bosses and office mixers. What he said when he was drunk wasn't really his fault, that had been the sake talking. And it wasn't his fault that his boss was a stuck up-

His hangover reared its head again, distracting him from another thought. Would he get in trouble if he'd been found drinking on the job? Yes, but the aid stations, especially in the civilian quarters where so rarely used these days that he didn't even consider being discovered a risk.

The only reason he wasn't happily drunk and passing the hours that way was because he'd run out of liquor hours ago, just long enough to sober up actually. Now the specter of quite a few drinks too many plagued his system, granting throbbing headaches, and general feeling of discomfort.

He was in no shape to deal with a patient, but he didn't care about that.

He was a little surprised, but far more annoyed, when the curtain in front of the station was pulled aside, letting the bright sunlight stream through. The light singed his bleary eyes for the few seconds they connected and he gave a grunt.

Osou was too worried to notice.

He brought the yellow haired child into the station and quickly located one of the cots used to treat the injured. Without any preamble or warning, essentially ignoring the doctor inside, he headed for one.

Training kicking in despite the hangover Barku grabbed at where the clipboards where left. Gruffly, voice cracking from disuse combined with hours of drinking with little water in between, he told the man who had entered to

"Fill out the sheet,"

And moved to the cot. Instruments were grabbed quickly and efficiently. Noises were made every few seconds, grunts and hmms, mostly. Osou was stuck with the paper work, not having any clue what he was supposed to do. It wasn't like he knew what to put. All he knew about the boy was that it was THAT child, and that there was no relation legally or genetically between them. But the sheet demanded names: name of the patient, names of the patient's family, names of the relationship between the two, names of contacts and so on. The rest of the page wasn't much use: it asked for a detailed medical history and other facets of the boy's life that Osou knew nothing about. He wasn't even sure of the nature or cause of the injury, and was doing his best to not speculate.

He didn't say any of this though. The doctor was working and not to be disturbed.

Barku was not becoming any happier as he studied his patient. From the fact that there was no scratching of a pencil it meant the idiot who'd come in hadn't started on the form yet, which told Barku he'd have to go this alone.

The first thing he had to do was figure out what was wrong and just how serious it was. The kid had a weak but steady pulse which indicated that barring any change or complications he would be alright. Of course that was hinging on the assumption that Barku could figure out what was wrong. Which should have been easy. Even with a hangover Barku was one of the best doctors the small village had. He just had a big mouth. That was why he kept getting shitty assignments like this. None of which flashed through his mind right now, he was focused on only one thing: his patient.

He ran eyes, hands, and chakra along the boy's face and neck, checking for any damage there. Some bruising and the right eye was going to swell a lot. The kid would have a shiner in the morning. The bone along the jaw didn't feel broken, but the slight flinching the kid did as he felt along it, combined with the dark abused looking flesh of the area indicated that most likely the bone had been bruised. The neck was fine, which was good.

Reaching out to his left, sightlessly locating the tools left to the side of each cot Barku selected a knife from the small silver tray. It was larger than a scalpel but had a much finer blade than a kunai. The purpose of the blade wasn't to rend flesh.

He ran the blade down the orange jumpsuit that concealed the rest of the kid's injuries. He took it one section at a time, doing first the torso and then the extremities. The extremely sharp blade cut through the rather durable cloth with little trouble. The slices were clean and prefect and the garment parted perfectly. Barku repeated the procedure with the shirt underneath the jumpsuit, and then finally gained access to his patient's skin. Precious seconds had been wasted, but fewer of them than had his doctor been another.

The scan proceeded in much the same way. Using the same techniques and a few extra instruments Barku proceeded along, checking areas in order of the body's dependence on them. His scan turned up little until he reached the end: nothing more than some severe bruising and some very minor chakra burns. Large sections of the kid where nothing but a giant bruise, and several of his bones, such as his ribs and ankle had been bruised as well. The left wrist was sprained, but it should heal relatively quickly, and Barku thought it no cause for alarm. At worst he'd consider it a minor sprain and he'd only been able to detect it after his second check of the arm. As for the burns, nothing more than minor ones, most likely charka caused, but that would be revealed during the final test. There didn't appear to be a single deadened nerve as a result and only minor discolorations of the skin, but it was hard to be certain with all the bruising.

The final test revealed the worst part of the boy's condition. Exhaustion. The obvious beating he'd taken had pushed the boy's body past any reasonable standard of tolerance and had resulted in the utter collapse. Add to that the low level of chakra present, and the requisite case of Chakra exhaustion and it was no wonder the kid was unconscious.

With that diagnosis Barku grabbed a jar off the counter to his right and quickly began to apply the salve to the boy's external marks. It would speed recovery on the bruising and slight burns. Having done that, all he could really do, as everything else would require bed rest, he turned to the older man who was still staring at the forms.

"What did this to him."

Osou looked up, "I have no idea, I came out of my shop just in time to see him collapse on the street."

"You must have seen something. Blunt trauma like this, especially with so little real damage must have taken a prolonged period to inflict."

"Look, all I know is that the kid was falling down and the entire street looked wrecked. I couldn't just leave him there so I grabbed him."

"Why? You do realize that you may very well have made it worse?"

"You know who that is right? If I had left him there he would be dead."

"Right... well it's a moot point. He'll be fine. He just has some massive bruising, a sprained wrist, some very minor chakra burns, and is suffering from rather severe cases of exhaustion, both mundane and chakra. Now if you'll just complete–"

The sounds of a loud racket outside interrupted Barku's speech. The forgotten headache reared its ugly head again, the loud shouts reviving it. The station's walls were not thick enough to do more than slightly muffle the villager's cries so the two men standing in side could hear every shout.

"We know he's in there!!! Bring him out! We'll deal with him once and for all!!" and various other phrases echoed from over twenty mouths, with more gathering to join in.

In that instant Barku knew he should have listened to his mother and been a bureaucrat.


End file.
